


A playing piece

by Lizardbeth



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Matchmaking, Odin (Marvel)'s Parenting, Parent Frigga (Marvel), Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Shipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-14 02:49:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12998187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lizardbeth/pseuds/Lizardbeth
Summary: Frigga thought Sif would match better with Loki, Odin wanted her with Thor. It became a game between them.





	A playing piece

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote a fic based on my own headcanon post here: http://lizardbeths.tumblr.com/post/168342183060/i-headcanon-that-both-odin-and-frigga-wanted-sif
> 
> Thanks anon who mentioned the idea to me and got the marbles rolling in my brain! :)

* * *

 

The young page stood very straight before her. “My queen, the All-Father says to inform you that Prince Thor and the Lady Sif have arrived from Alfheim. And also, he sends you this.” He held out a shaking hand to drop a small polished river stone in her hand.

The page straightened and put his hands at his sides, refusing to look curious about why the king was sending his wife a rock. He didn’t know, but Frigga did. She smiled, allowing the page to believe it was a token of affection from husband to wife, not the tally marker in their friendly game that it was.

She clenched her hand around it. “Thank you.” The page turned to go, but she called him back, “Oh, a moment. Tell the Lady Sif to attend me at dusk. I wish to hear of her adventure.”

She put the stone in her pocket to await its turn.

* * *

 

“Blade higher,” Frigga instructed, demonstrating with her left hand where he was to meet her downward stroke.

Loki copied her, raising the dagger, and she nodded approval. “You see? You have better attack angle now.”

“Yes.” He turned and performed the move at full speed. There was not a sliver of wasted motion or lack of control.

She nodded, clapping her hands in approval. “Good. Now repeat the form again from the beginning.”

While he did that, she walked to the sideboard to pour herself a water from the decanter on the small balcony table. The hour was right, and Sif wouldn’t be late, surely.

She’d had to have Loki start it again by the time the Einharjar knocked and opened the doors, to allow Sif to enter.

Frigga heard a firm step and glanced quickly to check Loki’s position. He practiced before the wide window of the sitting room, the late evening sun gleaming golden on the damp skin of his bare upper body. While not as broad or muscular as Thor, Loki was also growing stronger now that he’d attained his adult height. If a young maiden didn’t look at that image of his exercise trews hanging off his hips and feel something stir, well, she wasn’t going to be interested in Thor either.

Frigga turned, smiling, but didn’t greet her for a moment, letting Sif look.

Loki didn’t notice at first that someone else had come in, concentrating on making each motion precise and fluid, until he stopped abruptly and swung around, reflexively raising the daggers into a defensive posture before he saw who it was and lowered them again.

Sif schooled her face to impassivity, and Frigga knew the moment was broken. She stepped forward with a wide smile. “Sif. Welcome. Come in. No, Loki, you need not stop for us,” she said, when he started to make the gesture for his clothes. “When you finish another run of the form, join us for refreshment yourself.”

He frowned at Sif, but didn’t argue with Frigga, giving Sif a polite nod of greeting before going out to the balcony to practice on his own. Frigga took the chair that put her back to Loki, so Sif would have to take another, and smiled. “Have a seat, my dear. I hope you find yourself well today.”

“Yes, I do.” Sif flicked a glance toward Loki and then back to Frigga. “This is the second time you’ve invited me to your company while Loki is practicing. Have you some purpose, All-Mother?”

“The cloudberries are deliciously sweet, you should try them. My purpose is only convenience, so Loki might hear what you tell me, since you tell a far different tale than Thor and we’re both curious.”

“Oh,” Sif said. “Because I-- “ She stopped and cleared her throat, unwilling to voice her suspicion that the queen was setting up a situation for her young but grown son to display his battle prowess in a manner he normally didn’t. “I just... “ she licked her lips, “you should know I’ve seen Loki fight. That time with the brigands on Vanaheim, I think he took five himself. So you need not doubt that I know he can fight most skillfully.”

 _It is not his skill I wish you to see, child, but I am glad you noticed it_. Frigga popped another cloudberry in her mouth and washed it down with wine. “I know you do, Sif. My offer stands to teach you, also. You are a fair hand with sword and shield I know, but another technique is always wise to know.”

“I appreciate the thought, but--” Sif’s gaze strayed back toward Loki on the balcony and Frigga turned her head to see what she was watching. He held the lunge, one dagger nearly hitting the balcony rail and the other held in reverse at his side. His stance was a bit too wide and spine too arched, but Frigga didn’t think that was what Sif was looking at. Sif cleared her throat. “I think the last time you offered, Loki’s look threatened murder if I joined his lessons with you.” He finished with a twirl of both daggers, vanishing them with a flourish. As he came back in, Sif raised her voice so he would hear. “I think he worries if I join the class with you, I’ll learn too much and then he’ll never defeat me.”

Loki gave a laugh. “Overconfidence is a weakness I exploit all the time,” he reminded her lightly.

He was standing near Sif, and Frigga looked at them both and thought they obviously belonged together. The Norns could not make a pair that good-looking, mirrors to one another, and match them to other ends, it was absurd.

He gabbed a cloth from the table to wipe his face and neck. Frigga was pleased to note Sif’s eyes follow his movement. He asked, “So if not lessons, what are you here for, Sif? Should I depart and leave you to it?”

Sif said dryly, “I rather think you are part of it, Loki.”

Frigga didn’t let her expression change, but inwardly winced. Perhaps her lie had not been entirely believed.

He frowned at Sif, curious. “I am? All right, if you say so.” He gestured to reform his tunic and proper trousers around himself with a glimmer of light passing over his body.

Sif was unimpressed, and Frigga wished she’d taught the young woman more magic so she would understand that what Loki did with such ease was not easy. The clothes made him look more ordinary as well, and Sif paid no attention as he flopped into the seat between the two women, stretching out long legs and grabbing a bunch of grapes. “What are we meeting about?”

“Sif is going to tell us about Alfheim. She’s always tells such a different tale than Thor does….”

Laughing, Loki agreed, “Oh yes! You and I are barely present in his tales, have you noticed that, Sif? You are a far more fair storyteller.”

“Nay,” she disagreed. “I only say what happened. You tell the _story_ , Loki.”

He saluted her with the bunch of grapes and settled back, looking pleased. “What really happened? It’ll be good to know before the feast.”

So Sif told them. When she had to excuse herself to begin preparations for the feast, Frigga touched the stone in her pocket, about to call her back and deliver it to Odin. But, in the end, she let Sif go. Sif was already suspicious, and there was no need to raise her ire. There would be time at the feast to lay the stone by Odin’s plate.

Turning her attention back to Loki, she did not expect him to be restlessly shredding grape stems. Perhaps he also was suspicious of the reason Frigga had called Sif to watch him train twice.

His tone was nothing but curious and polite, when he asked something quite different about the game. “Mother, why did Father not send me to Alfheim with them? Surely if it was meant as a negotiation, I should have gone, too.”

Since she couldn’t very well tell him the truth, that Odin had used kingly authority to throw Thor and Sif together hoping they would fall in love, she smiled, “Then perhaps it is time for Thor to learn.”

“This is the third time in a year he’s sent Thor somewhere without me,” Loki continued, poking with desultory interest at one of the cakes. “He seems very determined Thor travel and learn to do things without me. Have I not proven my skills to his satisfaction?” he asked, looking at her with furrowed brow.

She winced. A game which had seemed harmless was having a consequence she had not expected. “No, no, darling,” she reassured him, “It is nothing to do with you. Only Thor’s education.”

Loki nodded, but his eyes flickered away and he chewed his lip, uncertain. Then he pushed back his shoulders, forced a smile and stood up. “I must ready for the feast as well. I will see you then, Mother.” He kissed her cheek and left.

Watching him go, she held the stone in her palm. It was no game now, and she would have to speak to Odin about ending it before the consequences became worse.

She set the stone in a dish of similar decorative stones on the side table. Fate would have to take its own course, without her nudging it along.


End file.
